Battles Within and Beyond

This conflict analysis worksheet is designed for students in Grades 6 and 7 to strengthen reading comprehension, analytical thinking, and understanding of literary structure through Across Five Aprils. Learners classify ten key conflicts into man vs. man, man vs. self, or man vs. society, examining how both internal and external struggles shape Jethro’s development and drive the novel’s plot during the Civil War era.

Learning Goals

• Identifying Types of Conflict (Grades 6-7)
  Students distinguish between personal, interpersonal, and societal conflicts in a literary text.
• Analyzing Character Motivation & Internal Struggle
  Learners explore how Jethro’s thoughts, decisions, and moral dilemmas influence his actions.
• Understanding Conflict’s Role in Plot Development
  Activities highlight how different conflicts move the story forward.
• Critical Thinking & Classification Skills
  Students interpret scenarios carefully and justify how each conflict should be categorized.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with middle school ELA standards and historical fiction studies.
• Clear, Structured Classification Task
  Sorting conflicts helps make abstract literary concepts concrete and accessible.
• Supports Deeper Literary Analysis
  Encourages students to look beyond events and examine underlying sources of tension.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for literature units, guided reading, homework, review, or formative assessment.
• Printable & No-Prep
  Easy to implement in classroom or homeschool settings.

This Battles Within and Beyond worksheet helps students deepen understanding of Across Five Aprils by analyzing how different types of conflict affect characters and story outcomes. By classifying internal, social, and interpersonal struggles, learners strengthen analytical reading skills and gain insight into how war shapes moral growth and human experience. Whether used in a classroom or homeschool environment, this printable resource provides meaningful practice with conflict analysis in literature.

This worksheet is part of our Across Five Aprils collection.